4/19/2023
Five Flags Speedway
Henderson Looks to Continue Hot Start to 2023 When Outlaws Return to 5 Flags this Friday
Henderson Looks to Continue Hot Start to 2023 When Outlaws Return to 5 Flags this Friday
By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Cameron Henderson vividly remembers getting the call from Jerry Bradford four years ago.
The Rehobeth, Ala., driver and wife Tiffany had just welcomed first son Camden a couple weeks before Bradford offered Henderson the chance to drive one of his cars.
Henderson had always driven his own cars on shoestring budgets. Tiffany understood the gravity of Bradford’s call in 2019 and encouraged her man to chase his short-track dreams with this new opportunity.
“You can’t turn that down,” Tiffany Henderson told her husband. “You’ve been racing for 14 years and you’ve never had the chance to drive for somebody else.”
And, thus, an on-track marriage of Cameron Henderson and Bradford sprung out of Henderson’s actual marriage thanks to a supportive partner.
“She’s pretty awesome,” Cameron Henderson said of Tiffany. “She supports it, knows how much the sport costs and knows how fortunate I am to drive someone else’s cars.”
The 32-year-old will be back in Bradford’s car Friday night at Five Flags Speedway as the Faith Chapel Outlaws battle for 40 laps in their second race of the season. Henderson won the season opener last month. The Outlaws will be joined by the Zoom Equipment Pro Trucks (25 laps), Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks (20) and the Story & Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks (15).
Gates open at 4 p.m. Friday, qualifying at 7:15 with racing slated for approximately 8. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids.
Henderson’s win in March was his second of his career at Five Flags—the first coming in 2021. No matter the number, Henderson understands the significance of winning a feature race at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.
“It’s very hard to get a win down there. It’s pretty awesome,” he said. “I’ve won races at the Rattler, a big race at Cordele last year, but, man, to win in Pensacola you have to be living right. You gotta have everything go your way.”
Henderson qualified ninth last month and wasn’t too optimistic about his chances against a field of nearly 20 cars. But he worked his way up to the leaders and was perfect on restarts. It was an ideal recipe to find Victory Lane at Pensacola’s high banks.
Henderson’s 2021 victory will always hold a special place in his heart, though. It was just himself and longtime buddy James Mason working together, burning the candle at both ends, to fine-tune the car.
“Mr. Bradford let me bring his car to my home,” Henderson recalled. “I had never been given that chance before. James is a guru. He’ll cut something off a car in a heartbeat. We went to cutting on the car all week to get it ready. We went down there, set the fast time and then won the race. “
While he has competed at Five Flags since 2019, Henderson is a 17-year veteran of South Alabama Speedway in Opp where he runs the Super Stocks class. He enjoys the Outlaws class at Five Flags because it’s an affordable class for the average driver. Henderson listed a slew of used parts currently on the Bradford car he drives, which is a common theme for most Outlaws drivers.
“This is the highest form of racing I’ll ever do,” he said. “To me, those guys I’m driving against are the best at what they do. Timothy Watson, that kid, won it all last year. Logan Boyett has driven every type of car there is. Jay Jay Day and Bubba Winslow have won (Outlaws) Derby races.
“You have guys in this class that really know how to drive. It is truly something when you win down there because you know you’re beating the best of the best.”
Henderson hopes to get the better of them again come Friday.
“The car is going to have to be good for all 40 laps, which five extra laps at Pensacola seems like forever,” he said. “Everything has to be perfect again. Back in the day, you could ride for a few and then go. You can’t do that now. You’ve gotta go.”
